The movie, Snow White and the Huntsman is new, but Snow White is an old story. Seems fair to me. Countless stories have borrowed from fairy tales, why shouldn’t a new fairy tale borrow things back?

What influences a writer or a filmmaker anyway? Do they even fully know?

Rub-a-dub-dub,
three arts in a tub,
and who do you think were there?
The writer, the painter, the modern filmmaker,
and all of them gone to the fair.

Perhaps they spend all their time at the fair to beg, borrow, and steal. Don’t you think so?

Why do you think fairy tales appear popular again? Just this evening I watched the final episode of the BBC’s new Sherlock. Moriarty plays his crime as a fairy tale complete with bread crumbs and an apple (Snow White, anyone? Anyone?). Not to mention those fairy tale based TV shows I keep hearing about (but have not watched, must confess).

Will fairy tales ever go away?

Why do I even write them (such as mine are)?

my castle

Do you have a favorite fairy tale? Which fairy tale should filmmakers re-imagine next?

Once upon a time there was a writer, and her Muse kept her locked in room because the writer had claimed she could spin words into gold. The Muse waited, taunting the writer with bright and pretty ideas.

One day an agent appeared before the writer and said, “If you can find the magic words I’m looking for in all the dross you’ve piled high around you, I’ll publish your writing and you’ll be free.” The writer knew in her heart this was a trick, but she was under a spell and had to do as she was told.

She’s locked away in that room still, writing and writing, waiting for a publisher to call her name.

I’ve wanted to make an animated film. I don’t have super-duper software or equipment, so my efforts are a bit low-rent. I’m using what comes with the mac and my cheap camera.

As an experiment I made a film of me making a picture. Nothing fancy–just a simple picture. After I finally got all the pictures dowmlaoded and edited, I realized I couldn’t simply add music. One–I don’t want to be sued, so I’d need permission and I’d have to pay something. Two–I don’t know how to edit music to fit a film. Sure, I can move a music file over into my iMovie, but how to get the rhythm to match the art?

A bit beyond me.

Then I thought I’d at least share my amateur efforts…well, facebook was being very difficult about it and wordpress wants me to upgrade to post video.

Anyway, have you ever worked with iMovie or animation before? Any suggestions?